FORMER LISBURN MAN IS RE-UNITED WITH MOTHER

William's journey ends in tears of joy.

A MAN brought up in a Lisburn children's home has been reunited with his
mother for the first time in 42 years.

William Mooney took the final steps in the long journey to find the
family he had not seen since he was a child when he travelled to Wicklow to
meet - and embrace - his mother for the first time in four decades.

The meeting was the last stage of William's search which began when he
appealed in the Ulster Star last year for information on the older brother
he was forced to leave behind after being adopted while the youngsters were
together in Manor House Home.

That hunt ended in success when William met up with his brother Ian again
earlier this year.

It turned out they shared the same birthday, and when the two got
together for a special celebration on September 24 William (42) was able to
give Ian the birthday present he most wanted - the news he had found their
mother.

He told her that he had found their mother in County Wicklow and had
travelled to her home to meet her some weeks before.

When William broke the news the brothers both wept tears of joy.

The pieces in the jigsaw of William's family had first begun to come
together when his wife Julie contacted the social services who were able to
tell her Ian had been in touch sometime earlier. After a process of
exchanging letters the brothers met earlier this year for the first time
since that painful separation in the Lisburn home.

But another piece was still missing and William and Julie set about
locating the boys' mother.

Based on other information they thought she might have been living in
Wicklow and put an ad on a web page for Carnew detailing what information
they had about their birth mother.

They knew William was born in Bangor and his parents moved to Bath
Terrace in Hollywood. From a marriage certificate they found Mary Elizabeth
Kavanagh was his mother and had married his father David at Carmoney
Presbyterian Church in 1953.

They heard nothing until after returning from a holiday in Florida in
July.

When William checked his e-mail and found a reply from a girl in Carnew.

It said she could have information about his family and his mother but
asked William to send his birth certificate and pictures of himself.

While trying not to build up his hopes William decided to send what
information he could.

"I had nothing to lose and I would have done anything for any
information," he said.

"I forwarded these to this girl right away. I finished at lam and when I
pressed the 'send' button on my e-mail I was shaking with anticipation."

The next morning William checked his e-mail and found the girl had
replied.

It turned out she was one of 56 cousins who lived only five miles from
his mum.

Even more surprisingly she welcomed William to her family.

After exchanging notes by e-mail, William and his newly found cousin
decided what to do next.

William wrote a letter to his mother explaining who he was and explaining
how he had spent the past 30 years looking for her.

He said that one day he hoped they could meet.

"I explained that if she wanted to that we could keep it simply between
the two of us if we met," he said.

"I posted the letter and within four days I received a phone call from my
mother who was in tears with joy as she had prayed that one day one of her
sons would find her.

"We spent hours on the phone talking over what had happened to the two of
us over the years.

"At the end of the call we arranged that I would try and get time off
work to get down to Co Wicklow to meet her.

"When I put the phone down all the years of emotions just seemed to flow
out and both Julie and I shed quite a few tears together."

William had not seen his mother for 42 years and wasn't going to waste
any more time so decided to plan the trip straight away.

That weekend Julie and William set off for Carnew. Following a six hour
drive they arrived at the house where we were met by his aunt and uncle who
were there as 'backup.'

"I entered the house and into the living room where my mum was standing
waiting and when she saw me she flung her arms around me and the two of us
hugged and cried for what seem an age.

"After I introduced her to Julie all my new found relations started to
arrive to meet us.

"I cannot describe how I felt but you can guess how pleased I was to have
found her after such a long time and to be welcomed into the family with
open arms.

"It was as if these people had known me all their lives and in a way I
suppose they did because as the weekend progressed photos where brought out
and the likeness of my cousins and uncles to myself was uncanny."

'I couldn't believe that I was staring into my brother's eyes'

WILLIAM Mooney spent a long time trying to locate his brother.

He hadn't seen him for 36 years since they were separated from each other
when William was adopted and Ian was left behind in Lisburn's Manor House
Home in 1966.

William had been in the home since he was a baby and at the age of seven
adoptive parents were found for him.

Because of the strict rules at the time the authorities would not allow
the two boys to be adopted by the same family despite protests from
William's adoptive parents who were willing to take both children.

William knew little as to why both he and his brother were placed in a
home and had no recollection of his biological parents.

The pieces began to fall into place when the brothers had an emotional
reunion arranged by social services.

They met at a hotel accompanied by social services, Julie, William's wife
and Margaret, Ian's partner.

"We just threw our arms around each other," recalled William. "The only
word I could get out was 'hello',

He said to me `it has been a long time' and I said 'yes too long.'

"There were a few tears shed and I just couldn't believe that after all
this time of waiting and hoping that I was staring into my brother's eves."

There was an uncanny resemblance between the two who both sport
moustaches, and have their hair parted the same way.

They also discovered they were born on the same day September 24 - three
years apart. Strangely, both had a feeling their paths had crossed since the
separation.

"I don't know where, but I knew I'd seen him at some time without even
realising he was my brother," recalled William.

"I work at Stormont and Ian works for the council so the chances were
that we had met at some time without realising the connection."

After they met they exchanged information and found that their other
brother lives in Scotland as does their father.

Ian had left the orphanage in Lisburn to live with a family on the
Shankill Road. His foster parents are now dead, and his step sister lives in
Australia.